ICYMI: Google Messages has end to end encryption

If you’re still in messaging limbo with a range of apps for different friend groups, there are more reasons to use Google Messages. While the changes are relatively minimal, the Material You redesign has landed which smooths out some of the user interfaces. But cosmetics don’t make a messaging app good, they make it pretty.

A change that has quietly appeared within the app is end to end encryption for messaging. Even better is that you don’t need to make any major changes to “make it happen”. Simply having the “Chat Features” enabled will ensure messages are encrypted whenever possible. To enable this simply:

• Open Google Messages and navigate to the three dots: top right
• Open settings and navigate to Chat features
• Toggle Chat features to on

If you’ve not done so before, you may need to verify your number, but that’s it. If you’re chatting securely, you’ll see a padlock at the bottom of the screen indicating that your chat is in fact secured. The catch to ensure your messages are encrypted is that you and your message recipient need to both be using Google Messages. That isn’t exactly a huge ask given you need to have an SMS app installed on your device though.